Transfer chamber gas purge apparatus, electronic device processing systems, and purge methods
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsEdward Ng, Eric A. Englhardt, Travis Morey, Ayan Majumdar, Steve S. Hongkham
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Abstract
Transfer chamber gas purge apparatus are disclosed. The transfer chamber gas purge apparatus has a transfer chamber adapted to contain at least a portion of a transfer robot, the transfer chamber including side walls, a chamber lid, and a chamber floor, wherein the chamber lid has a plurality of distributed chamber inlets. The plurality of distributed chamber inlets may include diffusing elements. Laminar purge gas flow may be provided above the substrate. Systems and methods including a plurality of distributed chamber inlets are disclosed, as are numerous other aspects.
Claims20
A transfer chamber gas purge apparatus, comprising:
- a transfer chamber adapted to contain at least a portion of a transfer robot, the transfer chamber at least partially formed by side walls, a chamber lid, and a chamber floor, the chamber lid having a plurality of distributed chamber inlets.
An electronic device processing system, comprising:
- a transfer chamber at least partially formed by a mainframe housing having side walls, a chamber lid, and a chamber floor;
- a plurality of distributed chamber inlets in the chamber lid;
- and
- a plurality of distributed chamber outlets in the chamber floor.
A method of purging a transfer chamber, comprising:
- providing a transfer chamber at least partially formed by a chamber lid, side walls, and a chamber floor, the transfer chamber containing at least a portion of a robot adapted to transport a substrate to and from chambers accessed from the transfer chamber;
- and
- purging from the transfer chamber by inflow of a purge gas through a plurality of distributed inlets in the chamber lid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.